Goodbye!

Sihi group safely returned from the trek and has left for Delhi this morning around 8, in two cars, with Anil. Safe and happy return!

Yoga and Meditatrion

Update!

Some pictures taken over last few days:
31st May: "Informal" presentation by the group; Certificate distribution from the hands of Ms Suchitra and Ms Maragaret. Followed by a Talent show..and some Black magic!
Visit to Renuka Temple and lake.. etc. etc.

Family Interviews

The group interviewed some families which had a child with special needs. They also visited a Gujjar (nomad) family.

Sihi Update

Some pictures from the visit to Mrs Jain, Gram Pradhan, Eden bagh;
A trip to Aravali, a voluntary agency working in Timli village;
An interaction with Gujjars (Nomadic tribe in this part of Himalaya)..
Below: Anasuya, the Jungle girl!

Cool Stuff.

Hey guys!

Everyone's topics sound really interesting ... I can't wait until we actually start interviewing people and doing more research - I'm sure we will be so surprised at how different health is in India versus North America.
Oh, and I looked at that Benjamin Button thing, it's pretty neat. I had been wondering for a while how they made him short and old, hehe. It reminded me of a Dove commercial I saw a few years ago, which is also really cool. The beginning is makeup, but at the end they completely computer modify her, and it's interesting to see how much they can change someone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U

-Cassie

Research topics

Hi everyone!

First off, I'm also interested in staying in Delhi for a few days after the trek (I am NOT leaving India without seeing the Taj Mahal {side, side note - listen to Sam Roberts' song called Taj Mahal. It's not about India, but it's really good!})

Okay I do actually have something significant to post...

Research topics! Originally I wanted to look into traditional medicine and how people use it and perceive it. However, I think I would be more interested exploring spiritual health (i.e. health of the spirit - not necessarily religious) in the region we will be visiting, noting how people feel about spiritual health, the institutions that cater to a person's spiritual health, who attends to their personal spiritual health (the rich? the educated? young people? old people?), and how the recognition of spiritual health is incorporated into the daily life of the individual, family and community. Those are just a few of my questions :). I find spiritual health particularly interesting because of how differently we care for our spiritual health in North America (or arguably, don't care for it at all). During my stay with an aboriginal family in Ecuador, one of the most noticeable differences between our societies was their recognition and respect for a person's emotional component. In fact, one of the trip coordinators had done an exchange in Canada and absolutely hated it! He said that he felt like people closed away their emotional part, and he could not live that way.

I would love to share more with you later, but I have to go meet you all now :D

Lots of Love,

Meghan

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been late to post - my laptop died the other day and I've been scrambling to get it fixed (I'm at the Apple store right now actually for the 2nd day in a row).  

I'd just like to say hi again to everyone - I'm super-excited about the upcoming trip.  I'll be modifying this post later today with my research once I have access to my computer again... As for research topics, I'm interested in developmental disabilities in children and what the community does to help them, and family medicine/surgery in a setting that is so different from what we are used to in Canada. I intend to modify and specify my learning goals as time goes by, especially after I learn about who is actually available for interviewing/study.  

Also, I would very much like to stay in Delhi a few days after the trek (to make it back to Toronto by the 14th), so it would be great for those also interested to express your interest/let me know so we can plan away!  

-Jessica Truong

Hey

Hey guys,Soooo... I was just studying for my econ test and figured now would be a good time to make my first post on the blog. Just like everyone else, I now have extra incentive for wishing the school year to be over... I really can't wait to go to India. I'd really be interested in learning more about the homeopathic vs. allopathic way of approaching medicine. I just find it interesting how homeopathic styles are virtually non-existent in NA, but appear to be predominant in northern India. My main focus is going to be pertaining to this area... I may refine it from there.

I thought I'd post a really cool video too...
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ed_ulbrich_shows_how_benjamin_button_got_his_face.html
it`s really cool... kinda gives a new appreciation for the movie..

Adam Parry

Hey!

Hey everyone!
I'm really excited to be going on the trip ... it was really nice getting to know all of you better at the fundraiser this past Saturday. As for my focus, currently I would like to look into how speech therapy works in India, as well as the social and educational programs provided for children with special needs.
See you guys Sunday!

-Cassie Cetlin

Great Guys !

Hey Sihians

Some of you may be wondering what kind of .... you are fated to meet in India, this summer. So, here are the three you will meet and interact on regular basis while in India: Vijay, Anil and Parmanand (from left to right). You can see they have put on their best Canadian promo tea shirts and the best smile.. to welcome you. There are couple others too, you will be seeing- Ms Suchitra, Ms Gina Devi and sachin. Now let me tell you briefly about these three guys:

Anil is the overall manager of the residential facility (Samagra ashram). He oversees kitchen, turns out great dishes. Parmanand is accountant and oversees computer use. He will show you how to log on and check your emails (in India, it can be tricky and needs mastering). Vijay is the Speech Language Pathologist cum Audiologist and will happily give you a free consultation- just in case.. :-)).. All three of them speak functional English with lot of 'yea' 'yea' thrown in for good measure. They are good learners, so this summer I am sure they will pick up rest of the conversational English skills from you.

Finally, Gina Devi is a lady from nearby mountains (Jaunsar)- a very fine person and with a lot of insights on life. She helps to keep the place clean.

Hey!

Hi everyone!

I first of all want to say that I am really excited for this trip to India and can't wait for it to be May! I think we are all really excited to meet everyone there!

Just out of curiosity, I am planning on focusing my question on mental health and the potential social stigmas attached to it. I am really interested in a career involving this area and seriously want to advocate destigmatizing mental illness, however would like to learn more of its reception in areas like Uttaranchal. Do you have any suggestions with a topic of this nature? Also what types of mental illnesses would I be able to focus more into?

Thanks
Anasuiya

Hello Blogspot

Hi everyone,

I'm really excited to be going to India with the SIHI group. I'm doing a research project on the disparity between rural and urban healthcare in India if anyone is interested in knowing more about that topic, I'd be happy to share my findings. I'm really looking forward to learning more about such an interesting and beautiful place! I'll let you know if I stumble apon anything neat!

Meghan Dertinger

SIHI Students 2009

Hey everyone! 

The SIHI Students are now logged in and ready to post on the blog, so look out for their messages from now on!

-Simran

Posting to your blog

Feel free to share your comments about the blog set up. Yes, there are couple of ads- I could not help. Just ignore them. If any one wants to tinker with the basic design and set up- please let me know. I will pass on the admin access. To begin with, tell me what you think of the poll!

Now about how to put your posts: If you are on this page, it means that you know its address, which is:http://tohimalaya.blogspot.com/On this page, on top right corner, click the link: "Sign in".You will be taken to blogger page, which is-http://www.blogger.com/startOn this page, look on the right hand top margin for-“Sign in to use Blogger with your Google Account" Here under, provide the username and password, provided by Simran Ohson.

Now, Dashboard will open up. Notice on top right - satksri@rediffmail.com, which is your log in. Now, if you click on "New Posts" you will get the window where you can type or paste your new post. Link next to it, is meant to edit older posts. There is extensive online help if you need. Always append your name to your posts, as there is no other way of identifying the author. If you forget first time, you can always go back and edit it. Happy sharing!

Welcome to SIHI 2009

A warm welcome to SIHI 2009. This is the first post for SIHI 2009. The posts before this belong to SIHI 2007. You are welcome to browse those older posts. This is the blog set up for SIHI's use. As you add your posts, they will appear above this one, with appropriate links in the monthly archive in the left column. The purpsoe of this blog is to promote sharing and collaborative learning. This process of documentation will also facilitate reflection on our field experinces.

You may get the username and password from Simran Ohson and start using the blog. Since it will be same for the entire group, it would help if the writer will put her/ his name at the end of the post in parenthesis like this-

(sachin)

Access to resources

Medical care and education in Jaunsar Bawar and markets in Chakrata

The Jaunsari community, a scheduled tribe recognized by the government, lives in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. The SIHI Group 2007 stayed at S.M.T.A. Hostel and worked with Dr. Sachin, Maggie Furtado, Belamji and Dhaneshwariji, two local health workers for S.M.T.A. in order to understand how these people in the mountains live. The terrain here is very difficult for travel and villages are located very far from one another. Immediately, we experienced the trouble locals have to endure to commute through a terrain mixed with hills, mountainous, rocky areas, and streams, with the added complement of immense heat in the summer and cold winds and ice in the winter. With this, we quickly learned that locals face many hardships in accessing resources in the area, including health care, education, and marketing among other things. At the Panchayat workshop hosted by S.M.T.A. on May 19 -20^th, 2007, the concern of improper roads construction was brought up. Perhaps this is one of the few areas of improvement that is necessary to highlight, which will improve the setbacks of accessing medical care and education in the Jaunsar Baur as it is well deserved.

Education - Students

Students of primary and inter-college level have to travel long distances to gain education, if the respective educational institution is not located in their village. The villages we visited that had primary education were, Majgaon, Jakhadar, and Tumroli. The two inter-colleges we visited were in Quashi and Myrawana.

In Tumroli, we met Sanjay Singh, who was deaf and mute but was able to study until class 5 because his primary school was located in his village. He would like to continue further studies, but his disability discourages his parents to send him far from Tumroli. For Sanjay, his mother mentioned, there is a school located in Vikasnagar or Dehra Dun specific for students who have special needs. A resource exists at a far distance. However, there is no hostel facilities, meaning the family would have to relocate to Vikasnagar. This option is not feasible for them. He is very intelligent and has adapted well by completing fifth grade in his village primary school. His next option would be to go to Quashi, but this is too far, claims his family.

A young girl we met thrice named Neelam attends Myrawana inter-college, and walks to her home in Fediyana everyday. This is very common. In fact, we saw children from Jakhadar and near by area (including Tumroli) walk all the way to Quashi to seek education. Quashi intercollege does have student housing for rental. The teacher there told us that groups of girls from faraway villages live together in these houses for about 500 Rupees a month flat rate. In fact, a small girl we met in the Aryan family in Thanta lives in one of those housing complexes. Though options and alternatives have been made possible at this inter-college to make education accessible, it is still not feasible for many children. In a remote area like the Jaunsar Bawar, where literacy rates are lower than the national average, the limitations are still not being dealt with strongly enough.

In Fediyana, Julla Devi, a girl who grew up with cerebral palsy, was described by her father as being very intelligent. She did not ever attend school. Her father claims this was due to a lack of facilities that could aid in transporting her to an educational institution.

Besides access to education, students are not fully experiencing education in totality. The inter-college in Myrawana is a temporary building, which has yet not implemented the Science stream for students interested. This is in part due to a lack of laboratory facilities. In fact, we observed that the sports education needs work too. The field basketball poles had been raised, but had no nets or back board. Fortunately, the new inter-college is being built. The old building is speculated to be used as a teachers’ residence, a benefit to the local community.

Education – Teachers

Commuting in this region is not only difficult for students, but also for teachers. A good educational system requires for consistent attendance and capacity of teaching staff. The intercollege we visited in Bamrara village (name changed) luckily hired a female teacher, Ms. Kamla (name changed), almost three months back. This has been the first female teacher in this school’s history.

In Myrawana, all the teachers are male, a few of them living nearby to the school. This was convenient for them and their students. We asked if they see any issues that can arise in logistics with a female teacher at the school, as they too agreed that this was a void that they would be happy to have filled by the government.

They explained that teachers are assigned positions by the Education Board and female teachers are less likely to be placed in remote villages like this due to traveling distances and such logistics. Many female teachers may have families, and need to return home to them early and stay home more often. This results in increased absenteeism amongst female teachers, though this is a general trend seen in most education givers due to the fact that schools are located so remotely.

Health Care – Children’s Health Care

The father in Fediyana of the deceased girl with cerebral palsy said that there has been improvement in the area with respect to nurses giving polio vaccinations to newly born children. If his grandchildren were not given vaccinations, he would some how make arrangements to seek this medical care. What is most troubling is the traveling expenses that would result. So, would he really go?

In Senjaar, we spoke to Jeet Singh’s eldest son, who has a daughter with a disability. To take her to a hospital, he says, he has to a take a day off from farming. He handles his father’s fields as well, because he can no longer work due to his handicap. Losing a days wage is a great loss for this family, especially with the loans they have to pay back from the father’s treatments. In these communities, this scenario is common, resulting in diagnosis of treatable childhood illnesses and disabilities at a later date – a harmful alternative.

Health Care – Illnesses and Complications

In Senjaar, we spoke to Jeet Singh, a man whose one leg due to an injury was affected with Osteomyelitis. His leg had been infected and at Leman’s hospital was gradually cut off at the sites of infection in the bone. He moved to a private doctor in Dehra Dun because of dissatisfaction. We asked him how he traveled there.

He described how he has to rent a car, which costed him about 250 Rupees to go to Dehra Dun. Specially, he is adamant about booking the front passenger seat in order to comfortably place his leg that wears a brace. There is simply lots of trouble he says, in just making arrangements to see the doctor to get his monthly medications. The Dr. will not give the medicines to anyone else but the patient. He was recently recommended to go to another government hospital in Chandigarh because the fees of his private Dr. were also getting to be too high. Again for affordable health care, people have to go far distances.

This was a common story that we found for people in the Jaunsar Baur seeking health care. If not found locally, with the non-governmental organizations and government clinics (i.e. Kilkari), they would seek help in Chakrata. If not there, they would move to Vikasnagar or Dehra Dun. This traveling is troublesome for families who have incomes lesser than that of the national average.

In Thanta, we spent some time with a faith healer who had both legs amputated due to a cause similar to gangrene. It was hard for him to travel to the hospital. Usually, a few members of his family would need to take a day off of work from their farms to accompany him to see the Dr. in Chakrata. Due to travel issues, had to suffer income loss for one day’s work.

In village Dundyara, we met a herbalist, a Nepali who has settled in the Jaunsar Baur for a very long time. He initially learned about herbs in Nepal from his father. He says, it is more difficult to retrieve herbs and roots in these terrains than it was in Nepal. The Himalayans span both areas, but this area in particular does not have as high peaks as Nepal. This is a minor setback, but it gives another perspective on the way this terrain affects the people in this region.

In Fediyana, we met another adult man, who was a local blacksmith. His left leg was limp due to polio. He did not think his disability was an inconvenience, but using a crutch in the unsteady terrains to commute was rather difficult. As a young child, he used to travel over 200 yards away on his crutch for schooling. He explains that traveling in general in these mountains is hard and is not a limiting factor for only those who have disabilities. “It is hard to travel in the mountains, but for anyone in the mountains, it is hard.”

Marketing

Chakrate, a small town, is a great resource to even shopkeepers; yet the same problem still stands. Our very own experience with nearby local shop-owner illustrates the problems in communication due to the far distance of Chakrata from the Jaunsar Baur and the set backs poor traveling means to this nearest town creates for locals

For weeks, we have been asking the owner to order chocolate bars and he said there is a contact there who will get them for us, but everyday there is no news from the man he has given the order to. He was supposedly going to order them from Chakrata. Any small shop owner here, has to get his merchandise from Chakrata and it may take 3-5 days for the products to arrive if not more.

Housing Construction

In Majgaon, we interviewed some contractors who told us that slate for roofing comes from far away village Quashi and sun-heated bricks come all the way from Vikasnagar. Even housing materials are not available easily. This is a high expense to construction workers. Materials need to be carried up from the valley where most of the wood is found. Material transport is a barrier due to poorly developed roads and access to different areas in the mountains.

Recall, Jeet Singh, whom we met in Senjaar. His leg injury was caused because he fell off a truck while getting supplies for the construction of his house. He owns many fields, but due to his transportation and ofcourse medical care costs, he had to sell some land. This was the only example we had of selling land and taking loans for health care, but it would not shock us if this was common amongst other families.

Services and resources are slowly being integrated into this area for the Jaunsari community to reap benefits of. Many locals have expressed to us their happiness with development, but also still see areas for improvement. Perhaps due to communication barriers such as distance, the information is not being delivered to them as efficiently as it could be. Nonetheless, it is still an issue for these people that for basic health care, marketing and educational purposes, they have to commute long distances which discourage them from accessing these resources. Perhaps it is an instilled characteristic of mountainous regions, but I have learned so much by listening to the way the men, women and children of the Jaunsari community live. I also been able to appreciate greatly what they do, and be grateful for the lifestyle we take for granted in the West.

(Mohini and ?)

Sachin’s favourite pics

Well- that is just a title for the blog. Doesn’t mean that I don’t care for other pictures taken by me or others.. But since, I dare not turn an AI collaborative blog into a personal picture gallery of sorts- I am posting just a few of the pictures, which, to my mind, give the glimpse of the vast expanse, space, which last few weeks have been- both in physical and psychological sense for me..
Well- the small comments about the pictures - I just dont know how to align them with the pictures. So let us turn it into a guessing game and see how many you get correct.. Just needs a little bit of Yoga concentration!

Rope trick by Jon on an Indian Road

Someone is homesick and writing feverishly under a beautiful sky..

Nishu in an inhospitable canada (role play)!

Shepherd keeping an eye on his flock!

A shepherd sleeping in forest..

People from a different world..

A picnic at the top of the world..Was it worthwhile?

Vast mind in a small body- Vaster Spirit behind a small mind..

Hope you all have moved in a new space, new rhythm, equally vast, equally fun!

sachin

MEMORIES LAST FOREVER

My trip was started with lots of apprehensions, whether I will be able to live up to the expectations of being a translator or not or will I’ll be able to overcome all language and cultural barriers or not …but I tried. In jakatar I found my unknown India and love it too much .The whole group including Madeleine, afrousheh, Nora, sara,john,trish, raman,abhishek,Chelsea,Lauren,mohini,nishu I really love them all. As you all were curious about India, I was too curious about you all. I really loved the Canadian culture. I still remember once Chelsea telling me that she feels really awkward wearing such colorful and nice clothes in front of the jaunsari villagers, this showed her love and care for jaunsari people. I was also touched by the ‘thanks and sorry culture’ of Canada. I never been so close to everyone but I was always showered with love and care. Trish and Madeleine always used to encourage me during hikes.Jaunsari culture is very rich in every aspect. They shower love and affection even to strangers and they all are always ready to give their precious time to us. It always been a good time asking them questions like “are you married? Or how many children you have? Being a translator, I enjoyed every translation because of huge support from my team member including Jonathan who was always used as bouncer (I am sorry john).during translation whenever I found problem with special keywords, dr.sachin always used to help as Google search engine. It was always been a wonderful time walking with nishu and Dhanehwari ji and sometimes with Belum bhaiya in group called “slow walkers but first coming group” it sounds weird but only this title came to our mind during walking uphill… Mohini was always been a great bunch of interesting talks. Nora was always been a sweet little princess with a beautiful boon of sketching and drawing .Sara always ready to help everyone as a beautiful nurse but with brain and golden heart. Lauren: a bold and beautiful girl with a power to judge every situation very correctly. Raman: he has beautiful style of saying ‘namaste’and off course he has done a good work as editor.
Every SIHI accepted me whole heartedly and I am really thankful to them for their enormous love and support. By the way my engineering entrance test and my UGAT (under graduate admission test) is over and I had cleared them all. Sometimes it was hard to enjoy beauty near me because of nostalgia, but when the time arrived to go home, I felt nostalgic about SMTA. A tight hug from afrousheh brought tear to my eyes. A lovely and warm farewell from SIHI made me touched deep down at heart. I am thankful to Dr. Sachin and Maggie aunty for their love and care towards me. You all became my second family there. I apologies for any mistake during trip and bloging.

Lots and lots of love to everyone
PRIYA (Your translator)

Reflection: Education In Jaunsar

Education in the Jaunsari Region

Education is an essential component to the growth and progress of any society. The World Bank reports that an educated society has fewer child marriages, better family planning, better hygiene, and more political participation. Over a period of 3 weeks the SIHI students have been able to get a first-hand perspective of the education system in the Jaunsari region and compare it to the education system back in Canada.

Boys and Girls

The SIHI students encountered many differences between the education of girls and boys in the school system of the Jaunsari region. In a typical classroom in the region, boys and girls sit separately on different sides of the room. This may lead to fewer behavioral problems. In Canada, on the other hand, boys and girls mix freely in most schools, and many obedience problems there can be found within boy-girl interactions. In Canada, single sex schools are becoming more and more common.

We were also surprised that in many schools we visited, girls rarely or never option for the math field. At one school that has been running for almost 30 years, no girl ever opted for math. On the other hand, no boy at that school ever took Home Science. This is not necessarily because of the education system; the teachers at the school expressed that they believed that girls were as capable of mathematics as boys, but that many girls feel uncomfortable in a classroom of mostly boys, because of the boy-girl separation that Jaunsari culture encourages.

Instructional Methods in the Jaunsari Classroom

Most Jaunsari schools are forced to operate on a small budget while teaching hundreds of students. In many of the classrooms, a teacher supervises 40 or more students at one time, putting a strain on how much time she can devote to each individual student. In one village school that we encountered, 2 teachers supervise 70 students, and when one teacher goes on leave, the other is forced to manage all the students. In contrast, Canadian classrooms usually do not exceed 30 students.

Many Jaunsari teachers employ a “repeat-after-me” approach to teach a large number of students at once, either writing on the blackboard or saying something that the students are then expected to repeat. The lesson plans move in a methodic and predictable manner. There is some interaction between teacher and student, when the teacher may call upon a student to answer a question or read a passage. There is rarely misbehavior in the classroom, and if it appears, the misbehaving student is warned for his behavior. If he continues his misbehavior, he may be reprimanded physically with a light slap.

In Canada, the classroom instruction often involves more classroom interaction. Students are often asked to give presentations to the class at an early age, such as putting together a poster board with information about a certain subject, such as different countries in the world. There are also activities that are considered fun and relaxed, such as “story time” (where the teacher reads a story to the class) and “show and tell” (when students bring in something to class and talk about it). There are often more behavioral problems among Canadian students, as there is less of a sense of respect that a student has towards his teacher. If a child misbehaves, the teacher will usually give him a warning, and if the behavior is repeated, send the child to the office.

Access to Resources

The SIHI students found that many Jaunsari schools are lacking the resources to provide a quality curriculum in the higher grades. Many schools were lacking toilet facilities, and the students and teachers were forced to use the bushes. Some schools were not able to offer higher-level science courses because they did not have the necessary teachers or laboratory equipment, dissuading many students from eventually going into professions such as medicine and engineering.

By doing this, the girls feel more comfortable in their group and the boys feel more comfortable in theirs. In Canada, on the other hand, boys and girls mix freely in the classroom.

The Jaunsari Area in which the SIHI Program has conducted an appreciative inquiry has an extensive educational system including Grades 1 to 12, allowing students to meet the prerequisites for higher education such as medicine, law, and engineering.

By SIHI 2007 (student?)